A blog about the life and times of one Arty McGoo, a.k.a Mrs. Elizabeth Adams. Her art, her ideas, and her ramblings. Arty is internationally recognized for her ninja skill in cookie artistry. She is a master cookier, cookie design teacher, and world-renowned cookie lecturer.

Can you believe it is JUNE?! This year seems to be flying by and this month at McGoo U we are celebrating the wonderful men in our lives: our dads. My dad is a huge support to me and is so encouraging... one might even say enabling. You see, he is fascinated by the cookie community (he really needs to come to CookieCon!) and being an artist himself, he loves the artistry of cookie decorating. I don't know how many dads will listen to all your cookie stories and adventures or ask to see how your latest cookie project is going, but my dad does. He has decorated cookies with me several times and loves every second. When I am in need of a custom cookie cutter he comes to the rescue. He's like a super hero! But more on that later...

This month I designed 3 cookies that are sure to please your pop. We use some fun wet on techniques, the tissue paper transfer method to get a super clean font, we share some tips on making piping embellishments easier, and a geometric tie design that is super fun and sure to impress! My sweet and super talented friends came over for our Father's Day cookie playdate. These ladies are so much fun!: (L-R) Christina Ramsey who is a fabulous cookier but not on Facebook, Andrea Garner of Bella Cakes, and Sally Fraise of Sweetiedoodle

It was so fun to have Larry Kessinger (or as I like to call him: "Dad") as our visiting professor in the Expert Lab. He shows us all the tools and tricks he uses to create one of a kind custom cookie cutter shapes out of cans and turns trash to treasure. Brilliant! My dad has made me countless cookie cutters with this method for the past 3 years and it was fascinating to see how it's done. Recycling at its best!

In Mixing it Up! we mix up some cookie dough and royal icing. It's time to go back to the basics as the foundation of cookie decorating is so important. If you don't have a great tasting cookie recipe that keeps its shape, or have a batch of royal icing that is full of problems, then decorating isn't fun... it's frustrating! I go step by step through my process and recipes that are most consistent for me and a great base to build off of. I've added everything from zests, extracts, crushed up candies and chocolate chips, to chipotle and raspberry preserves to my cookie dough and it always comes out tasting amazing and holding its shape even without chilling. (With so many variables it is a great idea to measure your ingredients to decide what additions or variations would work in your climate and with your oven, tools etc.) Happy baking!

Filming After School segments is always fun and usually a little crazy. We've filmed in cemeteries in the middle of the night, gotten kicked out of a mall, I operated a chainsaw, wrestled another cookier to the ground... let's just say we have fun! I come to the insanely talented crew at Real Media with my ideas and they add to the ridiculous brainstorm and we basically create a monster. This month is our most ambitious project to date. We put together a music video, cookie style! This is what happens when cookies and 80's Rock collide and we tried to capture all the glamour, drama, the sleep deprivation and angst of a late-night cookier and add smoke, lights and mullets. Oh! and wind... how could I forget the constant wind blowing in my face. ha! I hope you enjoy this month's music video parody of Heart's song 'Alone' ('Caffeine') because we had a BLAST making it!

this is probably my favorite moment of the video. Mr. John rocking out with his mullet. haaaa!Speaking of amazing fathers, this guy right here is an awesome dad to our 3 kids!

and yet another awesome dad, Brad: the ringleader here at Real Media

Thank you so much to my fabulous fellow decorators Christina, Andrea, and Sally for creating special Father's Day cookies with me! And a special thank you to my dad, Larry Kessinger for sharing his awesome tutorial on his cookie cutter making process and for being the best dad and grandpa I could hope for. You rock! I hope everyone's Father's Day is fantastic and you have have fun creating something special for them.

All of the segments can be viewed as a show, but the McGoo U in particular is meant to be a class experience that you can cookie right along with. So, if you'd like to cookie with me, here is what you will need for this month's McGoo U:

Prepare:

Fill one piping bag with white royal icing of piping consistency, coupler, and a #1 or 1.5 tip

Fill one piping bag with flood-consistency white royal icing, coupler, and #2 tip

Fill one piping bag with flood-consistency blue royal icing, coupler, and #1 or #1.5 tip

Fill one piping bag with flood-consistency red royal icing, coupler, and #1 or #1.5 tip

Fill one piping bag with flood-consistency green royal icing, coupler, and #1 or #1.5 tip

Color Recipes:

Blue: Wilton Cornflower + Black

Red: Americolor Super Red

Green: Wilton Juniper + Americolor Electric Green

Consistencies: Cookiers develop their preference of thickness through experience. The piping consistency I prefer is very thick and I typically use a 12 second flood. To determine what thickness your flood is: run a knife through your thinned royal icing and count the seconds for the surface to become smooth again.

FYI: When I say "fill one piping bag" the amount completely depends on how many cookies you are making. If you decorate 3 cookies you will only need a very small amount of RI in your bag.

A lot of these supplies can be modified to your preferences. If you use tipless bags, you can forgo the tips entirely (except when petal tips are used) or you can choose to use different food colorings. (Click here for a detailed guide to setting up your palette for painting) I always appreciate when people make things their own and let their own creativity be their guide. I'd love to see your creations! This is all about having fun and not stressing. Happy cookie-ying!

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Arty McGoo

Arty McGoo is the alias for Elizabeth Adams' creative side. Like a gremlin, she usually comes out in the middle of the night brandishing a paintbrush and a glassy-eyed stare. Arty is internationally recognized for her ninja skill in cookie artistry. The name Arty McGoo was originally derived from her blog. Elizabeth has always felt that ART is sometimes taken too seriously or seen as pretentious. Art is fun, it is messy, and it can be made out of practically anything! On this website you can sign up for cookie classes, purchase fun merchandise, watch videos, view photos of Arty's creations, and follow her through all of her social media channels!